Bonds Keep Rallying on Bad News
U.S. 10-year Treasury bonds rose further today, after Bank of America
announced massive losses during Q3 and missed earnings estimates. Traders have
been waiting for more signs that the housing market slowdown is spreading, and
today’s report from the U.S.’s second-largest bank seems to prove just that.
Traders recently pushed bonds to yearly highs, on underlying worries of
widespread weakness, and it seems like bond prices are beginning to move higher
again.
The dollar fell to new lows versus the euro, and also sank versus the yen, on
concerns over Bank of America losses which were reported today. Bank of America
announced it would lose nearly $4 billion for Q3, highlighting the massive
strains of a weakening housing market and the subprime mortgage fallout. The
dollar fell to new lows today, after staging a slight rally against the euro
since the beginning of October. The euro was down on the yen, on the reversal of
the carry trade.
Crude oil futures rose to new highs today, pushing above $89 a barrel on
continued worries over the Middle East. Turkey has become somewhat of a problem
nation for the U.S., as the U.S. worries about the consequences of a Turkish
invasion of Iraq. In addition, recent legislature regarding the recognition of
the Armenian genocide has also warranted Turkish threats of retaliation. Natural
gas fell more than 1%.
Gold futures rose today, nearly 1%. Traders today sold the dollar and bought
gold. Normally, gold moves inversely to the dollar and with crude prices, which
is exactly what happened today. Copper futures fell about 1.5%.
Grains were up today. Soybeans rose 1.8%, and corn rose 2.6%.
Stocks closed mixed for the second consecutive day. The Nasdaq rose, while
the Dow and S&P 500 closed fractionally lower. Click
here to read the rest of today’s
Stock Market Recap.
Economic News |
|
|